I hope the Celtics are good this year and I hope the Lakers do not win a championship

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The Celtics have managed to stay competitive while getting older. They always seem to have an unspectacular roster if you read on down the line after the big stars, but theyre usually solid players who can contribute.

Between the two I'd say Boston has a better chance and I'm not a fan of either team.

The Lakers are switching offenses along the way, have a new coach coming in with no camp, a lot of egos in the room to tip toe around. The D'antoni system is great if you want to win 57 games during the year, make all the highlight reels, and get burned by your lack of D in the playoffs. Plus the West is the more competitive conference.

Boston just has to contend with Miami and maybe the Knicks if they keep it up.

I hope the Celtics are good this year and I hope the Lakers do not win a championship

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The Celtics have managed to stay competitive while getting older. They always seem to have an unspectacular roster if you read on down the line after the big stars, but theyre usually solid players who can contribute.

Between the two I'd say Boston has a better chance and I'm not a fan of either team.

The Lakers are switching offenses along the way, have a new coach coming in with no camp, a lot of egos in the room to tip toe around. The D'antoni system is great if you want to win 57 games during the year, make all the highlight reels, and get burned by your lack of D in the playoffs. Plus the West is the more competitive conference.

Boston just has to contend with Miami and maybe the Knicks if they keep it up.

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If Bynum ever gets rolling in Philly, the Celts may not ever see Miami or New York in the conf finals. Andrew pretty much has his way with the Celts' big men, espcially KG.

At this point you really need to wonder if he's ever gonna be healthy for a full 82.

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I think it's pretty much a given that he never will. But consider that the Lakers played for 3 championships with Andrew anchoring the center position in the playoffs. Of those 3 Finals appearances, the only one we lost, we lost because Bynum wasn't able to play.

The Sixers aren't the Phil jackson Lakers but he can still be a force even after being available for only the last third of a season.

BTW, I still say that if and when Bynum gets healthy and gets rolling iwthe the team, the Sixers will eventually convert the Celts into their personal bitches.

The New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets faced off last night for the first battle between New York and Brooklyn since the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. I missed who had the quote, but one Nets player pointed out that when they played in New Jersey against the Knicks, there were always more Knicks fans in the crowd. Now it actually felt like a homecourt advantage.

While, as a Sixers fan, it's certainly not in my personal interest for the Nets to be good, I do hope that the Nets and Knicks develop into a good rivalry because that would be really fun.

Hard for me to see the Knicks/Nets ever becoming more than just a regional thing that will, of course, be hyped like it's something that it isn't by the news media. The Knocks have a suprdemely talentd offensive player, Carmelo, who reminds me of Charles Barkley a lot; meaning, an offensive machine but a loser nonethless.

Nets have a better chance, I think. Their pieces do appear to at least fit, unlike the mish mash that is the Knick's roster.

The problem though is that great rivalries are built over time and, and as far as basketball is concened, these two haven't had enough of it.

Hard for me to see the Knicks/Nets ever becoming more than just a regional thing that will, of course, be hyped like it's something that it isn't by the news media. The Knocks have a suprdemely talentd offensive player, Carmelo, who reminds me of Charles Barkley a lot; meaning, an offensive machine but a loser nonethless.

Nets have a better chance, I think. Their pieces do appear to at least fit, unlike the mish mash that is the Knick's roster.

The problem though is that great rivalries are built over time and, and as far as basketball is concened, these two haven't had enough of it.

Hard for me to see the Knicks/Nets ever becoming more than just a regional thing that will, of course, be hyped like it's something that it isn't by the news media. The Knocks have a suprdemely talentd offensive player, Carmelo, who reminds me of Charles Barkley a lot; meaning, an offensive machine but a loser nonethless.

Nets have a better chance, I think. Their pieces do appear to at least fit, unlike the mish mash that is the Knick's roster.

The problem though is that great rivalries are built over time and, and as far as basketball is concened, these two haven't had enough of it.

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They haven't been good at the same time over the last 20 years or so that I've been following hoops. Doesn't make for much of a matchup.

I grew up in NY during the heyday of those Knicks teams of the 90s. Chicago, Indiana, and Miami were all bigger rivals. Even Boston is a bigger rival.

Games in the old Meadowlands were basically Knicks home games. I used to go whenever the Knicks 'visited' since you couldn't get tickets to MSG.

It's a unique dynamic having two of everything as far as pro teams go. It doesn't matter what the Nets, Mets, and Jets (whoa I made a rhyme) do, they'll never be as popular as the Knicks, Yanks, and Giants.

Intracity rivalries are inherently more likely to be regional since it only involves one city and the hype turns off people from other markets.

I think that just says that the Lakers seek out these people. Obviously, all but two were well-established at the time they went there (actually, really all but one). Malone was certainly trying to do a last-ditch effort to win the title that eluded him. Chamberlain was a bit different since the Lakers were seeking out a piece to go from championship contender to actual championship winner, since they hadn't won since Mikan left if I'm not mistaken (it's a shame they never won with Baylor).

Anyway, I'm not sure what it says that 4/5 were Lakers. It says something, but not really a lot.

Anyway, I'm not sure what it says that 4/5 were Lakers. It says something, but not really a lot.

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Everyone "seeks out" these types of players -- but not every team finds and actually acquires as many of them and has the success the Lakers have had with them. It is just one of the reasons the Lakers are the league's primiere franchise. That's what it says.

Well, Chamberlain was traded to the Lakers (I assume he demanded it, but it's mostly because Los Angeles could afford to pay a fuckton of money)

Abdul-Jabbar was traded for as well, but I don't know the story behind that.

I don't really consider Malone to be a Laker, but that was a weird situation of a team that looked like it could win but desperately needed something so a player took a last ditch chance to win by jumping on board. I'd have to think who else he could have signed with. Detroit, Sacramento, and San Antonio had big men. Maybe the Nets or the Celtics would have worked, but the team with Phil Jackson seemed like the smarter bet. Also, in the absence of Shaq, the Lakers had greater need.

So, aside from big pockets and well-timed good fortune, I'm not sure what it says.